The Garden of Barbara Sanseverino
The original garden was designed in the second half of the 1400’s by Roberto Sanseverino: it was an Italian garden with flowerbeds, hedges, labyrinths, citrus and fruit plants.
At the end of 1500 while maintaining the original setting, the garden was enlarged and enriched by Barbara Sanseverino, who made Colorno a prestigious Renaissence court.
The Great Park
The Great Park designed by the architect Ferdinando Galli Bibiena, was created by Francesco Farnese at the beginning of the eighteenth century. It was an interesting union between the Italian garden and the French one, over four kilometers long and enriched with extraordinary and imposing marble fountains such as that of Proserpina and of Trianon (this one is nowaday in the center of the small island in the pond of the Ducal Park of Parma), carved by Giuliano Mozzani.
Louise Elisabeth and the French Garden
In 1749 the Duchy passed to the second son of the King of Spain, Philip, who, along with his wife Louise Elizabeth, the daughter of the King of France Louis XV, made Colorno his main residence. The garden was transformed following the French style and was realized the parterre with flowerbeds and flowers by the court-gardener of Versailles Francois Anquetil.
I berceaux lateraliReggia di Colorno
The lateral berceaux of white hornbeam
The Romantic Park
At the beginning of her reign, the Duchess Marie Louise transformed the garden in an English romantic park with the collaboration of Carlo Barvitius, the president of the Botanical Society of London. Many rare plants were planted, including the Zelcova Carpinifoglia that still exist, and was realized the pond with the island of love and were enhanced the greenhouses in which the Duchess loved to cultivate violet and exotic fruit plants.
The Zelcova
The Garden boasts more than twenty species of plants including exotic trees. One of these most interesting species is the Zelcova Carpinifolia, imported from the Caucasus regions in Europe at the beginning of 1800. Its age should be more or less near 200 years old and we can think that it was planted in the time of Maria Luigia, when she set up the Ducal Park, around 1840.
